Electrical power and/or information is commonly transmitted by means of insulated cables or conductors, as is well known in that particular art. It is also a common practice to suspend such cables from poles or other relatively high supports. However, such power and other cables are generally not designed to handle the relatively high tensile loads on the cables which occur when these cables are suspended between supporting poles. Thus, the general practice is to string a stronger supporting wire or line between poles and in turn to support the power and other cables from the supporting line at more frequent intervals.
A problem which occurs with such a dual power cable and supporting line system is that the coefficients of thermal expansion of the cable and support line will almost certainly be different. In order to allow for such a difference it is standard procedure to allow some several inches of slack in the power or other cable at various points along the supporting line. Thus, should the supporting line expand at a greater rate than the supported cable, or should the supported cable contract to a greater degree than the supporting line, the intentional slack loop in the supported power or other cable will permit such differential expansion or contraction without causing the supported cable to be damaged.
In addition, there will be a tendency for rain or other moisture or condensation to collect on and travel along such a cable to its lowest point. If such a low point coincides with the passage of the cable into a structure, moisture will almost certainly eventually pass into the structure. Hence, common practice dictates that a "drip loop" of several inches of slack cable be formed in order to provide for a low point at the bottom of the drip loop before the cable passes into the structure.
Many of the power or other cables used for such purposes are of a sufficiently small size that any such slack loops desired may be readily formed by hand. In some situations, however, the assistance provided by some tool or other aid is desirable. In any case, even where hand forming is feasible, it is not possible to form consistently sized or shaped loops in cables without the use of a special forming tool. In fact, it has become increasingly common in the industry for cable manufacturers or installation companies to require the use of a special bending or forming tool in order to provide consistency and to prevent possible damage to the cable due to a bend of insufficiently large radius. However, the tools and devices presently in use for such purpose are generally relatively complex, being formed of an assembly of several components, and/or relatively complex, bulky or heavy.
The need arises for a tool for use in bending and forming cables and related materials, which tool is light, simple and compact. The tool should be capable of forming consistent bends in the appropriate materials and should also be easy to use with a minimum of training for the user. Furthermore, the tool should be of a durable nature, with a minimum of separate parts and also should be inexpensive to manufacture.